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The Secret Service
The Secret Service was a unique blend of live action and Supermarionation originally shown on three ITV regions in 1969 - ATV, Granada & Southern. Unfortunately, no more than thirteen instalments were ever produced before Lewis Grade cancelled it. The reason Grade gave was his conviction that Americans would not be able to understand the strange gobbledygook language which Father Unwin spoke, called "Unwinese," a trademark of the comedy of comedian Stanley Unwin, the lead voice actor--a claim which missed the point entirely! For Gerry Anderson, one of the two chief producers of the programme, was one of Unwin's fans and had wanted to incorporate Unwinese into one of his productions; he argued that it could be explained as "jargon" code, which is spoken rather than written. Alas for American viewers, Grade refused to accept this. Thus The Secret Service was never syndicated to the United States. Set in present day (1969) Britain and working for [[B.I.S.H.O.P Headquarters|B.I.S.H.O.P., or ''British 'I'ntelligence 'S'ervice 'H'eadquarters's '"Operation ''P'''riest,"]] Father Stanley Unwin and his gardener Matthew Harding led a double life. In reality they were both secret agents and they made quite a team. Using a unique device called the Minimiser, Father Unwin could reduce Matthew down to one-third normal size, and he could then be transported around in a special case. Father Unwin drove around in a yellow vintage 1917 Model T Ford named "Gabriel," with Matthew in tow. With his reduced stature, Matthew could enter aeroplanes, tanks and cars without being seen. Main Characters Father Unwin.png| Father Stanley Unwin Stanley Unwin Matthew.png|Matthew Harding Gary Files Mrs Appleby.png|Mrs. Appleby Sylvia Anderson The Bishop.png|The Bishop Jeremy Wilkin Saunders.png|Agent Saunders Keith Alexander Bake.png|Agent Blake Keith Alexander Main Equipment The Minimizer.png|The Minimiser Matthews's_case.png|Matthew's Suitcase Farther_Unwin's_car.png|Father Unwin's Car Main Locations Vicerage.png|Vicarage CB027.png|Farther Unwin's Church SS16.png|B.I.S.H.O.P Headquarters (British Intelligence Service Headquarters Operation Priest) SS14.png|British Intelligence Headquarters Episodes (Production Order) # A Case For The Bishop # A Question Of Miracles # The Feathered Spies # To Catch A Spy # Last Train To Bufflers Halt # Errand Of Mercy # Recall To Service # Hole In One # School For Spies # The Cure # The Deadly Whisper # May-Day, May-Day! # More Haste Less Speed (Broadcast Order) # A Case For The Bishop # A Question Of Miracles # To Catch A Spy # The Feathered Spies # Last Train To Bufflers Halt # Hole In One # Recall To Service # Errand Of Mercy # The Deadly Whisper # The Cure # School For Spies # May-Day, May-Day! # More Haste Less Speed Cast and Crew Credited Produced by David Lane Format by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Directed by Alan Perry Characters Created by Sylvia Anderson Music Composed and Directed by Barry Gray Vocal Title Music by The Mike Sammes Singers Teleplay by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Production Supervisor Des Saunders Supervising Visual Effects Derek Meddings Lighting Cameraman Paddy Seale Script Editor Tony Barwick Supervising Editor Alan Killick Art Director Keith Wilson Production Manager Frank Hollands Puppet Co-Ordinator Mary Turner Puppet Operators Wanda Webb Rowena White Charmaine Wood Wardrobe Iris Richens Sculptors Tim Cooksey Plugg Shutt Film Editor Alan Killick Camera Operator Ian Vinson Assistant Director Geoff Pittman Dialogue Synchronisation John Drake Senior Visual Effects Director Jimmy Elliott Visual Effects Designer Mike Trim Models Peter Aston Property Master Peter Holmes ---- Visual Effects Unit Director Bill Camp Lighting Cameraman Les Paul Camera Operator Nick Procopides ---- Location Unit Director Ken Turner Lighting Cameraman Ted Wooldridge Camera Operator Noel Rowlands Manager Gren Nott ---- Supervising Sound Editor Peter Pennell Sound Editor Tony Roper Music Editor George Randall Sound Re-Recording Anvil Films Limited Character Voices Keith Alexander Sylvia Anderson Gary Files David Healy Stanley Unwin Jeremy Wilkin Executive Producer Reg Hill Trivia * ''The Secret Service was the final Gerry Anderson programme to use the Supermarionation brand, although a few years later, he did try unsuccessfully to revive the genre in the pilot The Investigator. It was also the only Anderson production to combine super-marionation with live action and the only Anderson programme situated in what was then the present day. * Because Agent Paul Blake (voice of UFO cast member Keith Alexander) was represented by the Captain Scarlet super-marionation puppet using browner, less black-coloured hair and eye-glasses, "fanon," or fan-fiction canon, has equated him with Captain Scarlet's grandfather on his (Captain Scarlet's) mother's side, and thus Captain Scarlet's mother with Paul Blake's daughter. * Production of The Secret Service took place concurrently with that of UFO, and Unwin's antique car actually appears in an episode of UFO. References Category:The Secret Service Category:Television Series Category:Supermarionation Category:Supermarionation Television Series Category:Live Action Television Series